Synopsis of the book:
When a beautiful young mother Sandra disappears the Boston Police fear the worst. Not only have they an urgent investigation on their hand but they fear massive media interest in the missing lady and her family. Added to this her husband Jason is a journalist this is going to be a case that gets a lot of media coverage. Jason reports his wife missing when in comes in from work in the early hours of the morning, to find the house all locked up with only their four year old daughter Ree in residence asleep in bed.
Detective Sergeant D.D. Warren arrives on the scene and is very quickly struck by how unhelpful and secretive Jason is about his family. Not allowing the Police to take anything away without a search warrant. However after a brief chat with his daughter she realises the little girl knows something about why her mother has disappeared,but at this stage as her cat Mr Smith is also missing her thinks she is out looking for it.
To the outside world this hard working young family seem to have it all but even within their walls, there are secrets and lied that need to be revealed. D.D. Warren must try and find the truth and discover what has happened to Sandra Jones as if she fails on this high profile case it will be the end of her career.
My thoughts on the novel:
I really did not want to read this book!! The reason for this I read 'Hide' by this author a few weeks ago and absolutely loved it and I didn't see how anything the author would write after this could compare to it. But I am very glad to say I really enjoyed this one too and while I don't think it was quite as good it still was a very enjoyable and marvellous book. Again the basis for this for me was the wonderful characters that were created within the story and I certainly found a real empathy with the little girl Ree who wanted her mummy back home.
The author Lisa Gardner has so far written six stories in the D.D. Warren series, this is the third one and it was first published in 2009. Additionally this American author has written eight other novels.
For me these crime stories in terms of style I would say they are similar to Peter Robinson or Stephen Booth. They are full of depth and I get the impression that every angle and every stone is covered in the investigation.
Despite having no intention of reading this book, I made the fatal mistake of checking out the summary of this book on line. That is what sold me because it was three paragraphs long and told of this young mother going missing and an unhelpful husband not being as co-operative as the Police would have liked or expected. Immediately I was intrigued and especially as the author was hinting there was far more to this small family than met the eye. Luckily I still had an Amazon voucher and was able to purchase it for less than five pounds.
I was also interested as to the novel's title. As to me it meant the danger was very close at hand and made me suspicious of all this couple's neighbours. And while we were introduced to them I think the author because of this title could had introduced one or two more into the story just to make the reader think a little bit more.
As for me this was probably not the most appropriate title for the book and I thought something like 'Danger at Hand or at Close Quarters would have been more suitable.
The story started with Sandra pottering around her home shortly before she disappears. It is a very good start to the story because it introduces this small family through her eyes and ends with the reader unsure what has happened to her, is she dead or mearly hurt? I found even at this stage I did not want her dead as from these first few pages she sounded an interesting lady and I wanted to know all about her and their life as a family.
I liked the way the story developed by introducing a couple of suspects into the story very quickly. And at the back of my mind was always why was her husband Jason being so difficult it was almost as if he did not want his wife found and the case investigated. The story would follow all the main characters and give you details about the, their lives and their opinions, but never so much as you could illiminate them from the investigation and doubt was always cast upon them. I think the only character in the story I did not think was the guilty party was Ree their four year old daughter.
I think the only thing that mistified me throughout the story was how much trouble the Police had in discovering the background to this family. For example where all their money came from when neither parent had a particularly high paid job. I just expected them to be able to find out all about the family and their history with little effort even if they were trying to conceal it. Maybe this is realistic and just through the Police would be able to find out anything in an investigation of this type.
I found I was totally wrapped up in the story from start to finish and while I always wanted a happy outcome to the story I was sure the author would not be as predictable as that. As she kept introducing new concepts and ideas into the mix that confused the picture and made the reader look at what had happened from a different angle. Her use of suspense was excellent and while I had my own ideas of what really happened I was well wide on the mark on this occasion.
For me the highlight was the concluding chapters of the story, because I really needed to know what happened. And I am very glad to say all the pieces fitted together superbly and I was left with the impression the author had completed a well thought out and told story. Yes I would like to know what happened next but at least I can use my own imagination for this.
For me the three main characters in this story was Sandra, Jason and their daughter Ree. The author was able to keep the missing Sandra in the story throughout by sharing with the reader her thoughts at various times in her life. This was always easy to follow as it was written in a different font and helped to cast suspicion on various characters not least her own husband, who seemed to have his own hidden life from the family. I liked both Sandra and Ree but Jason I found annoying because he was so hell bent on the truth not coming out.
I thought the other character DD played a more supporting role. Although she was leading the investigation I felt she didn't achieve nearly as much as she should have done. Maybe again this is honest and realistic but I would have expected her to have got greater support from her management given the the media interest in the case. As a character I find her honest and very likeable, its just a shame she cannot form a relationship.
The books length for me was just right to tell a very deep,clever and well devised story. I found I really looked forward to every instalment and it was written in such an easy to follow style I never troubled or even considered the fact it was set in Boston, America with a different culture from us. For me even if you have not read the previous stories in this series this would be an excellent opener and you would not be adversely effected by not knowing the previous history in the books.
Conclusion:
I would certainly recommend this as a very good piece of crime fiction. For me the main reasons for this was the wonderful characters the author creates in her stories. Plus the well thought out story that was always full of mystery and suspense. And while I would not say it was quite as good as 'Hide' it was still a very enjoyable read, from clearly a clever and intelligent writer who knows how the mesmerise her readers with the quality of her stories.
Other Information:
Paperback Version:
Pages: 448
Price: 4.96
Publisher: Orien
ISBN-10: 1409103358
ISBN-13: 978-1409103356
Year first published: 2009
More about the author: www.lisagardner.com
Thanks for reading my review
This review is published under my user name on both Ciao and Dooyoo.
© CPTDANIELS July 2012.
Too Close to home 
Great review!